- 2,195
The Tesla Auto Insurance Reviews are in and....
You can find this article on Insurance Journal, Reuters, etc
You can read the article here: Tesla Launched its Own Car Insurance
By STEVE STECKLOW, KOH GUI QING and NORIHIKO SHIROUZU
Filed Nov. 21, 2023, 11 a.m. GMT
Here are some portions:
"The accounts of customers interviewed by Reuters contrast sharply with Tesla’s bold promises to policyholders."
"He said he waited seven months for payment on the totaled vehicle and still hasn’t been compensated for about $50,000 in medical expenses. That required a call to the automaker’s product liability department because the crash involved Autopilot, he was told. He waited on hold for hours and got hung up on four times, he said. When someone finally answered, the person promised another callback in two weeks. Four months later, he’s still waiting."
"The insurer’s problems fit into a pattern of rushed and sloppy management leading to consumer and worker harms across Musk’s empire of technology and manufacturing firms."
"Complaints about Tesla Insurance are drawing scrutiny from state regulators and the plaintiffs’ bar. The Ohio Department of Insurance at least twice this year determined that Tesla had violated the state’s insurance regulations in handling claims, including for a lack of timely communications with a policyholder, according to correspondence obtained by Reuters through a public records request. "
"In interviews, customers described their interactions with the insurer as frustrating on many levels. Phil Fioresi Sr., a stonecutter in South San Francisco, California, told Reuters it took about 15 calls to reach someone at Tesla Insurance after his daughter’s car was struck by one of its policyholders in September. He called the service “totally ridiculous.”
“What do they have, three people answering phone calls?” he asked."
"Unlike competitors that often have separate call centers to take claim reports, Tesla’s adjusters had to answer the phones themselves while also handling claims."
"In 2015 and 2016, the Highway Loss Data Institute, a nonprofit insurance research organization, reported that Teslas had significantly higher collision and property damage claim frequencies and losses than conventional large luxury vehicles. Based in part on that data, insurer AAA-The Auto Club Group said in 2017 that it was raising its rates to cover Teslas by up to 30%. Tesla disputed AAA’s analysis at the time."
"Other customers have had trouble handling the most mundane insurance matters. Lester F. Aponte, a Los Angeles attorney who signed up for Tesla Insurance in August, described a maddening ordeal to obtain proof of insurance. He said the Tesla phone app froze when he tried to access the documents. He called multiple times and was placed on hold for as long as 90 minutes." "He told Reuters he didn’t hear from the insurer until after he complained to the Better Business Bureau."
"Claims soon started arriving — not only from California but also from Texas, where Tesla recently had begun offering insurance. The dozen or so adjusters saw their caseloads jump from four or five claims a day to sometimes two dozen or more. Backlogs grew into the hundreds and could take adjusters two weeks or longer to get back to a customer."
"Jonathan Garcia was driving in North Carolina last year to visit family over Thanksgiving when a deer darted in front of his 2021 Tesla Model S. Garcia, an Ohio physician, submitted a claim to Tesla Insurance for damages to the hood and bumper, according to documents Reuters obtained from the Ohio Department of Insurance through a public records request.
After Garcia reported the accident on Nov. 23 last year, he repeatedly called, emailed and left voicemail messages with a Tesla Insurance claims adjuster for three months seeking repairs and a rental car, the records show.
“There were times I was calling every day. I was leaving messages every day. I was emailing every day," Garcia said in an interview."
"Scott Sawyer, a college researcher in Riverside, California, said he and his wife signed up for Tesla Insurance to cover their 2021 Model Y “because we thought it would be more seamless and easy.”
Then an uninsured driver in a pickup truck rear-ended their Tesla on a freeway in February 2022. Sawyer said it took repeated calls over seven months before the vehicle was finally repaired. While awaiting parts delayed by shortages, “we drove it with a big dent for a while,” he said."
You can find this article on Insurance Journal, Reuters, etc
You can read the article here: Tesla Launched its Own Car Insurance
By STEVE STECKLOW, KOH GUI QING and NORIHIKO SHIROUZU
Filed Nov. 21, 2023, 11 a.m. GMT
Here are some portions:
"The accounts of customers interviewed by Reuters contrast sharply with Tesla’s bold promises to policyholders."
"He said he waited seven months for payment on the totaled vehicle and still hasn’t been compensated for about $50,000 in medical expenses. That required a call to the automaker’s product liability department because the crash involved Autopilot, he was told. He waited on hold for hours and got hung up on four times, he said. When someone finally answered, the person promised another callback in two weeks. Four months later, he’s still waiting."
"The insurer’s problems fit into a pattern of rushed and sloppy management leading to consumer and worker harms across Musk’s empire of technology and manufacturing firms."
"Complaints about Tesla Insurance are drawing scrutiny from state regulators and the plaintiffs’ bar. The Ohio Department of Insurance at least twice this year determined that Tesla had violated the state’s insurance regulations in handling claims, including for a lack of timely communications with a policyholder, according to correspondence obtained by Reuters through a public records request. "
"In interviews, customers described their interactions with the insurer as frustrating on many levels. Phil Fioresi Sr., a stonecutter in South San Francisco, California, told Reuters it took about 15 calls to reach someone at Tesla Insurance after his daughter’s car was struck by one of its policyholders in September. He called the service “totally ridiculous.”
“What do they have, three people answering phone calls?” he asked."
"Unlike competitors that often have separate call centers to take claim reports, Tesla’s adjusters had to answer the phones themselves while also handling claims."
"In 2015 and 2016, the Highway Loss Data Institute, a nonprofit insurance research organization, reported that Teslas had significantly higher collision and property damage claim frequencies and losses than conventional large luxury vehicles. Based in part on that data, insurer AAA-The Auto Club Group said in 2017 that it was raising its rates to cover Teslas by up to 30%. Tesla disputed AAA’s analysis at the time."
"Other customers have had trouble handling the most mundane insurance matters. Lester F. Aponte, a Los Angeles attorney who signed up for Tesla Insurance in August, described a maddening ordeal to obtain proof of insurance. He said the Tesla phone app froze when he tried to access the documents. He called multiple times and was placed on hold for as long as 90 minutes." "He told Reuters he didn’t hear from the insurer until after he complained to the Better Business Bureau."
"Claims soon started arriving — not only from California but also from Texas, where Tesla recently had begun offering insurance. The dozen or so adjusters saw their caseloads jump from four or five claims a day to sometimes two dozen or more. Backlogs grew into the hundreds and could take adjusters two weeks or longer to get back to a customer."
"Jonathan Garcia was driving in North Carolina last year to visit family over Thanksgiving when a deer darted in front of his 2021 Tesla Model S. Garcia, an Ohio physician, submitted a claim to Tesla Insurance for damages to the hood and bumper, according to documents Reuters obtained from the Ohio Department of Insurance through a public records request.
After Garcia reported the accident on Nov. 23 last year, he repeatedly called, emailed and left voicemail messages with a Tesla Insurance claims adjuster for three months seeking repairs and a rental car, the records show.
“There were times I was calling every day. I was leaving messages every day. I was emailing every day," Garcia said in an interview."
"Scott Sawyer, a college researcher in Riverside, California, said he and his wife signed up for Tesla Insurance to cover their 2021 Model Y “because we thought it would be more seamless and easy.”
Then an uninsured driver in a pickup truck rear-ended their Tesla on a freeway in February 2022. Sawyer said it took repeated calls over seven months before the vehicle was finally repaired. While awaiting parts delayed by shortages, “we drove it with a big dent for a while,” he said."
